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The [Friday] Papers
"Chicago was once a major destination for African-Americans during the Great Migration, but experts say today the city is pushing out poor black families. In less than two decades, Chicago lost one-quarter of its black population, or more than 250,000 people," Kalyn Belsha reports for the Chicago Reporter.
250,000 people.
That's just about the population of Buffalo.
If those 250,000 people formed their own city, it would be the 83rd largest in the United States.
That's a lot of people, and the city hasn't really reckoned with it - other than to close schools instead of investing in those folks' neighborhoods to make them more appealing. (I suspect the foreclosure crisis/scandal has a lot to do with it too, which just goes to show how incredibly weak both local and federal responses to it have been.)
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"In the past decade, Chicago's public schools lost more than 52,000 black students."
52,000.
If those 52,000 students formed a city, it would be bigger than DeKalb, and just about the size of Tinley Park or Des Plaines.
That's a lot of kids.
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Where are they going? Don't say Atlanta!
"A common refrain is that Chicago's black families are 'reverse migrating' to Southern cities with greater opportunities, like Atlanta and Dallas. But many of the families fleeing the poorest pockets of Chicago venture no farther than the south suburbs or Northwest Indiana. And their children end up in cash-strapped segregated schools like the ones they left behind, a Chicago Reporter investigation found."
Just like - or including - the dispersion of former Chicago public housing residents whose buildings no longer exist.
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"About 15,000 students from the city's predominantly poor and African-American schools transferred out of CPS over the past eight academic years, yet remained in Illinois, according to an examination of tens of thousands of state transfer records. About one-third enrolled in school districts that are both majority poor and majority black.
15,000.
"Often, the receiving school districts in Illinois and Northwest Indiana were chronically underfunded. Research shows poor black students in Illinois perform worse academically in such districts compared with Chicago."
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There's nothing accidental or organic about it. The mass outbound movement is part and parcel of policy decisions made by political leaders.
A spokeswoman for Mayor Rahm Emanuel said his administration is taking steps to keep African-Americans in the city. "Mayor Emanuel has led several major initiatives to invest in our youth, support local businesses and create jobs in neighborhoods across the city," Lauren Markowitz said in a statement. She pointed to expanded mentoring and jobs for African-American youth and investments in businesses and shopping corridors on the predominantly black South and West sides.But some academics blame city officials for making it harder for poor African-Americans, in particular, to live in Chicago: They closed neighborhood schools and mental health clinics; failed to rebuild public housing, dispersing thousands of poor black families across the region, and inadequately responded to gun violence, unemployment and foreclosures in black communities.
"It's a menu of disinvestment," says Elizabeth Todd-Breland, who teaches African-American history at the University of Illinois-Chicago. "The message that public policy sends to black families in the city is that we're not going to take care of you and if you just keep going away, that's OK."
There's a lot more, go read the whole thing.
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New on the Beachwood today . . .
2018 Inspector General Preview!
Has the City implemented the recommendations made by the Mayor's Tax Increment Financing (TIF) Reform Task Force? Does the Chicago Police Department manage and maintain dashboard cameras and footage effectively? And more!
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The Week In Chicago Rock
Is in pre-production.
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The World's Greatest College Football Report's Bowl Game Preview Part 3
In this world of uncertainty, the Potato Bowl remains our rock.
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The Beachwood Radio Sports Hour #180: Are The Bulls, Um, Good?
Is this really happening? Plus: Are The Blackhawks, Um, Good?; The Cubs Are Having An Interesting Offseason!; Can Loyola Ramble Into The Dance?; and The World's Greatest College Football Report's Bowl Preview.
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The Media Mindset
I don't know what this is referencing, but I will never understand how so many journalists can believe that their profession should be the one exempt from the criticism they bestow on everyone else. https://t.co/51IVoibIaX
— Beachwood Reporter (@BeachwoodReport) December 22, 2017
Is there a more hypocritical profession?
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ChicagoGram
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ChicagoTube
The Chicago Paintball Open.
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BeachBook
Flashback: The Media & Laquan McDonald.
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Flashback: Rahm Releases E-Mails He Denied Existed, From Account Tribune Editor Used.
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The Truth About Multilevel Marketing Earnings. (See also Uber.)
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How America Moves Homeless People Around The Country To No Good End.
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TweetWood
A sampling.
Buying customized reporting (at awfully expensive prices): https://t.co/6CJqTx6Gms
— Beachwood Reporter (@BeachwoodReport) December 22, 2017
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Apple sued in #Chicago for slowing down older iPhones https://t.co/pXUK0KpUzl via @suntimes
— Beachwood Reporter (@BeachwoodReport) December 22, 2017
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A Sankey Diagram of Illinois' Population Breakdown https://t.co/fZr2koiz5N via @reddit
— Beachwood Reporter (@BeachwoodReport) December 22, 2017
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The Beachwood Tronc Line: Sankey in, sankey out.
Posted on December 22, 2017
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